Despite that mistrust, consumption of news on social media is very much on the rise:

52 per cent now say they get some of their news via social media. That's up 6 percentage points from last year, the biggest climb of any form of media.

17 per cent say social media is their main source of news, up 1 percentage point.

That might partly be explained by a split on how Australians feel about news on social media depending on their age: people under 35 are more likely to trust it (34 per cent) compared to the over-35s (19 per cent).

What kinds of 'fake news' are people worried about?

About 65 per cent of Australians express concerned about what is real and what is fake on the internet when it comes to news.

But in a world where 'fake news' can mean anything from a completely made-up story to an accurate story a politician didn't like, the report seeks to clarify exactly what kinds of misinformation people are worried about — and which kinds they're actually experiencing.

The global report's lead author, Nic Newman from the Reuters Institute in Oxford, notes: "A key finding here is that while audiences worry about fabricated or 'made up' news, they mostly struggle to find examples of when they've actually seen this. Of all our five categories, this is the biggest single gap between perception and experience."

How to spot dubious news

Michael Jensen and Mathieu O'Neil from the University of Canberra say the motive for spreading fake news can be as simple as making money, or as complex as international information warfare.

Either way, they suggest watching out for these signs that a story might be dubious: